Broken Hope
by AkitaFallow
Summary: She never told them how much it hurt. How much it broke her heart into tiny little pieces one shard at a time. EdxWin songfic, angsty. The song is one I wrote.


So I've decided to show you what I've been working on for the last little while!

This is EdxWin, for all you fans of other pairings. It's also my first attempt at a romance of any kind.

The song is mine; miraculously, I wrote it before I even came up with this fic idea. I'm surprised at how well it fits!

If you want to hear the song sung, I'll try and figure out some way to record myself, and then send it to you if you PM me. It could take forever.

Anyways, on with the fic! The song is named the same as the fic.

* * *

Winry looked over at Ed, sitting on the other side of the room, his nose buried in an alchemy book. She sighed quietly as she watched him turn a page, his eyes devouring the words. She tried to hold that image in her head and memorize it, so that she'd have something to look at in the days he and Al were gone. Who knew when Ed would break his automail again?

* * *

**I see you sittin' there**

**And I know that you'd care**

**If I just had the courage**

**To tell you.**

* * *

She wished they'd stay. What was so wrong with Risembool? Why did they always have to run off, gallivanting on another adventure? She knew they had to find the Philosopher's Stone and get back to normal; she understood that, and only wanted them to be happy. But still, she wished they could be a normal family together for once. 

Even though any chances of that had died with the thing they had resurrected instead of their mother.

* * *

**But nothin's easy as it seems,**

**And you can't live off broken dreams**

**But I can't seem to let it go.**

* * *

All she could really do was wave at them as they left, if they even bothered to tell her beforehand. She could only plaster a fake smile on her face and hold back her tears till they were out of sight. Then she could cry all she wanted; it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't make them come back sooner, or stay longer.

* * *

**And I know that it's hard to say goodbye**

**I can't count all the tears that I've cried.**

* * *

It tore at her inside to think of what could happen to them. She was always afraid that there would come that one time when they wouldn't come back.

* * *

**I'm waitin' here**

**I'm tryin' to hide**

**That I'm broken inside.**

**The pain, doubt and fear**

**I'm fallin' apart**

**I can't find the pieces of my shattered heart.**

* * *

There was never a day that she didn't think about them. One thing or another would bring her thoughts back to the two boys who stole her heart from the moment she met them. Day by day, it ate at her. 

She tried to tell them to stay, so many times. But she always made professional excuses, like "How can I keep your automail in good shape if you're halfway across the country?!?!" She never told them how much it hurt. How much it broke her heart into tiny little pieces one shard at a time.

* * *

**How long's it been since I've been free?**

**Since I opened up and let it be?**

**I always tried to keep it**

**A secret. **

* * *

A stray tear managed to slip down her cheek. She hastily reached up to brush it away. 

"Winry?"

Her head jerked up, and her hand froze. Ed was staring at her; for once, his eyes weren't on his book. She'd been caught.

"Winry, what's wrong?"

"…Just tired," she mumbled after a minute, and rubbed her eyes to emphasize it, surreptitiously wiping away any extra tears.

She could tell he wasn't convinced.

* * *

**You know I'm bein' who I'm not**

**I guess I'm not good as I thought**

**At hidin' the pain away.**

* * *

He stood up and walked over to her. 

"Win, tell me about it."

His eyes were softer than she'd ever seen them, and he looked genuinely concerned.

It was that that broke her.

"It's _you_!"

His eyes went wide with incomprehension. "What?"

"You're always gone; it's like you don't even live her anymore! You come back only when I need to fix your automail! Is that all I am to you? Your _mechanic_? I'm tired to pretending that everything's okay; that when you sneak off without saying goodbye, it doesn't hurt! I'm tired of acting!"

* * *

**And you say that it's hard to say goodbye**

**But I can't keep on livin' a lie.**

* * *

She sobbed harder. "And I'm tired of thinking that one of these days you won't come back, that you'll have gotten into something you couldn't get out of! I don't want to _lose _you, Ed!"

He stood there shocked. Winry sniffled and buried her face in her hands.

* * *

**I'm waitin' here**

**I'm tryin' to hide**

**There's no fire inside.**

**I'm lost in my tears**

**I've fallen apart**

**I can't hide the pieces of my shattered heart. **

* * *

She felt a hand on her and lifted her head as Ed pulled her into an embrace. She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed as he stroked her hair. 

"Shhh, Win. Shhhh. I swear, I didn't know.

She hiccupped. "I-I'm always s-so af-fraid that you w-won't be th-there anym-more," she said brokenly.

He hugged her tight. "Winry, I'll _always_ be there for you. I promise, as soon as we find the Philosopher's Stone, we're coming home for good. No more military, no more danger. Just you, me, Al, and old Granny Pinako."

She nodded slightly into his jacket and sniffled.

"And besides, even if something came up, no matter what happens, you know I'll come back to you eventually. You just have to be patient."

She looked him in his golden eyes and saw sincerity there. "Promise?" she whispered.

"I promise."

And then he kissed her.

* * *

**With a soul that's lost in shadow**

**Opened eyes turn hope from sorrow.**

**You can't hold on forever, just let go**

**Like a rainbow bursting free!**

* * *

For once, Winry smiled as she stood on the front porch, waving goodbye to the two most important people in her life. She was still sad to see them go, but it wasn't a heart-wrenching sadness that threatened to overwhelm her. She had those last moments with Ed to treasure, and a promise that he would always come back.

* * *

**I'm movin' on**

**I've held on too long**

**I've got to be strong.**

**When all hope seems gone**

**I'll stand on my own**

**I'm never alone.**

* * *

This was he home, the place where she was born, grew up, and would always return to. 

It was Ed's home, too, despite the fact that he lived away from it more than he lived at it. He would return.

They always say that home is where the heart is.

And it's true.

* * *

**I'm waitin' here**

**With arms open wide**

**And nothin' to hide.**

**I've shed my last tear**

**Cause I've got to live**

**I've got more to give.**

**And I'm waitin' here**

**I'll stand in the end**

**No longer pretend.**

**And I'm waitin' here—**

**I'm waitin' here—**

**I'm waitin' here—**

**I'm waitin' with—**

**I'm waitin' here**

**With arms open wide.**


End file.
